Dark Tomorrow
by Padfoot Lives
Summary: After a year of capture, can the Mutant X team save Shalimar at last? And if they do, what demons will continue to haunt her? *COMPLETE!*
1. Work and Play

Disclaimer: I don't own Mutant X or any of the characters, except for Max Reyes, so don't sue me!  
  
Summary: When Shalimar is captured by a mutant gone wild, information and photographs the team receives lead them to believe she is dead. But can Brennan live without her?  
  
(Lines in bold indicate thought!)  
  
Dark Tomorrow  
  
Chapter 1: Work and Play  
  
The Mutant X team was watching a movie in the rec. room, all four suitably comfortable, with Brennan a little restless and Shalimar getting downright grumpy, when Adam's voice came over their comrings.  
  
"Brennan, Shal, Jesse, Emma - I need all of you down in the lab for a meeting right away."  
  
Glancing at each other, they turned off the movie and obediently headed down to the lab. Jesse looked at Shalimar and shrugged: "What could possibly be up now? Didn't Adam just tell us to take the night off?"  
  
"He didn't let us go to a club, though." Shalimar scowled. "And I so wanted to try on my new outfit."  
  
Adam was waiting for them in the lab. He was punching in various data into his system and images were appearing on the screen at a very high rate, seeming to be almost an insane blur that only Adam could have understood. He turned around and faced them when they entered. "We have a problem." He announced.  
  
"No shit." Brennan chuckled.  
  
"I don't mean the system, smart ass," Adam smiled. "We have a New Mutant problem. This guy's name is Max Reyes and he was one of the first mutants Genomex ever created. Back then, experimentation was highly unpredictable, and when I worked on his DNA, I made him a feral-molecular hybrid. Canine feral and propulsion molecular." He clarified.  
  
Jesse frowned. "Propulsion? That means he can move very, very fast, right?"  
  
"Right," Adam confirmed. "Anyway, I've received reports on recent attacks on mutants, and the profiles fit Max's mutant abilities and behaviour patterns perfectly. I could be wrong, of course, but my guess is that Max's powers have merged into his mind and have driven him insane. He is very dangerous and very strong."  
  
"So let's go kick ass!" Shalimar grinned.  
  
Emma laughed. "What do you want us to do, Adam?" she asked their leader.  
  
"The attacks have been taking place in the alleys around nightclubs," Adam explained, showing them a few horrible pictures of young men and women with broken noses, bleeding eyes and bruises all over their bodies. "So I need you four to get down to one of the clubs, 24/7 probably because it hasn't been the scene of any attacks yet, and keep an eye out for this guy."  
  
"Well, Shal, looks like you'll be trying out that new outfit after all!" Brennan teased, getting a playful punch from the beautiful feral.  
  
Shalimar grinned at Adam. "So let's go!" she squealed excitedly.  
  
"Not so fast, sweetie." Emma grabbed Shalimar's arm. Her eyes were focused on Adam's. "I have a feeling our fearless leader has something more to tell us."  
  
"Are you reading me, Emma?" Adam demanded, laughing. His eyes became worried then and he said: "She's right, though. We need to capture Max and stop him from hunting down any more mutants. I'd like you guys to try and bring him back to Sanctuary so that I can work on a cure for his ability- linked insanity."  
  
Jesse looked puzzled. "So what's the problem, other than how dangerous he is and his amazing speed?"  
  
Adam was silent for a moment, making Brennan a little nervous. Something was definitely wrong and was definitely scaring the hell out of Adam. Then Adam spoke. "In order to catch Max, we'll need strong, beautiful, irresistible bait." His eyes fell on Shalimar.  
  
"No!" Brennan exploded. "No way, Adam! This man is a psycho. You can't put Shal in that kind of danger."  
  
Shalimar looked at Brennan, surprised at his concern, and felt a strange delight inside. Don't be stupid, she warned herself, He's just being a protective big brother, that's all! Aloud, she said soothingly: "It's all right, Brennan, I can handle it. Besides, you and Jesse will be there to play my knights in shining armour, and Emma will be ready with her psi blasts."  
  
Jesse gave her a mock-salute. "I'll be right there and waiting!" he promised.  
  
"I hate this as much as you do, Brennan," Adam said, "But we have to get this guy, and Shalimar's feral side will be a great help to her against Max, while Emma may not be able to hold her own against this guy."  
  
"Fine." Brennan growled. "But she isn't going to leave my side for even a second."  
  
He turned around sharply and walked out of the lab. They watched him go, Emma smiling a little mysteriously and Jesse grinning. Jesse had a pretty good idea of what was going on with Brennan, and he glanced at Shal mischievously. Then Shalimar said, "Listen, Jess, Em, why don't you guys go get ready? I'll be there in a sec; I just want to talk to Adam for a minute."  
  
They nodded and disappeared quickly. Shalimar then looked at the man who was like a father to her, and asked: "So tell me, Adam, what you don't want to say in front of the others."  
  
"You can read me better than Emma," Adam smiled slightly. He sighed. "I didn't want to tell them, especially Brennan, that more likely than not, Max will get you. With his incredible speed, he could grab you and vanish in a second. You need to keep fighting, call out to us on your comring as soon as you're taken, and don't give up, Shal. I'm so sorry I have to do this."  
  
"Hey, Adam," Shalimar hugged him. "I'm a big girl - I'll handle this psycho. I want him captured as much as you do."  
  
And she smiled at him bravely and walked out of the lab, her golden hair flowing wildly around her shoulders. In fifteen minutes, she had changed into her new outfit and met the others in the garage at the car.  
  
Brennan's jaw nearly dropped when he saw her. In low-cut jeans and a clingy black camisole, she looked very, very sexy and he gulped. Jesse whistled playfully, and grinned as Shalimar whacked him on the head.  
  
"Come on, guys," Emma urged them into the car. "Let's get this night of work and play under way!"  
  
TBC.  
  
*A/N: So what did you guys think? Please R&R and tell me how it's going and what you really think of this. The second chapter will be up a soon as I finish it! 


	2. Terror

Disclaimer: I don't own Mutant X or any of the characters in this story (except for Max Reyes)!  
  
Dark Tomorrow  
  
Chapter 2: Terror  
  
24/7, a popular nightclub downtown, was crowded and excited, gyrating bodies on the dance floor and staccato pulses of the strobe lights adding to the chaos that the Mutant X team simply loved.  
  
Emma was laid-back as usual, content to grab a drink and sit at the table with the others, watching the dancing. Shalimar was downing her beer as fast as possible, impatient to get onto the floor, her feral eyes carefully scanning the area for anyone with suspicious behaviour at the same time.  
  
Brennan was angry in a mellow, determined kind of way. Emma could sense the protective fury radiating from him and it took all her self-control not to laugh. Jesse didn't have to be a telempath to see it as well. Only Shalimar seemed oblivious, insisting to herself that Brennan looked upon her as a younger sister.  
  
"See anything so far?" Jesse asked after a while.  
  
"I've been tuning in for any New Mutant emotions, but nothing yet," Emma shrugged, looking a little worried.  
  
Shalimar looked around. "Maybe I should flash my eyes gold at someone, so that Max Reyes, if he is actually here at all, knows that I'm a mutant."  
  
"That's very risky." Brennan obviously wasn't happy about it.  
  
"Yeah, but Brennan, that might be the only way to grab this guy," Emma reasoned with him, "And besides, he may not even be here at all."  
  
Brennan didn't reply, but an angry muscle throbbed in his jaw. Jesse glanced at him and said somewhat uneasily: "Maybe this is a bad idea. After all, what happens if this psycho does take Shal and we don't know it?"  
  
"Tough." Shalimar could be extremely stubborn sometimes, and she demonstrated this now by glancing through the crowd as if searching for someone. Then, as if she had found that person and didn't like what she was seeing, she flashed her eyes angrily. Turning back to the others, she smiled. "Well, if lil ol' Max is here, that would've gotten his attention!"  
  
"You're very happy about all this." Brennan remarked irritably. "Do you want to be captured or something?"  
  
She stared at him, and Jesse and Emma glanced at each other. "I want him captured, Brennan." She snapped back. "If that means risking myself, I'm willing to do it, especially when I know that Emma and Jesse and even you aren't about to step back and let anything happen to me."  
  
"Even me?" Brennan demanded angrily. "Emphasis on 'even'? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Do you think I don't care?"  
  
My God, she doesn't really believe I don't care, does she? - He thought miserably.  
  
Shalimar stood up. "I'm going to dance," she said, directing this to Jesse and Emma who were looking very uneasy about sitting there during a 'lover's spat' as Jesse would have called it.  
  
As he watched Shalimar go off, Brennan growled and abandoning his drink, went after her to make sure she wasn't left alone. Jesse lifted his comring to his mouth and said: "Adam, Shalimar's taken off into the dance floor, and Brennan's gone after her. I can't see either of them anymore."  
  
"Emma, find them," Adam commanded, his voice coming over both their comrings. Emma listened carefully. "And both of you: keep an eye on them. Max might just feel challenged by Brennan's strength and take him instead. And I want both of you to be careful as well."  
  
Meanwhile, Shalimar was working out her frustration on the dance floor, angry at the amount she was beginning to feel for her elemental protector- and-teammate. She noticed a tall, muscular guy with short sandy hair and deep green eyes, coming closer to her. He's pretty cute, she decided. Just as she was about to smile at him, another, much more handsome face, eclipsed his.  
  
Brennan.  
  
Shalimar exhaled sharply. "I don't need a babysitter, Bren," she grumbled.  
  
"Awww, come on, Shal, don't tell me you won't dance with me." Brennan grinned, seeming to relax a little at the fact that she was obviously glad to see him. "You know you and I could set this dance floor on fire."  
  
"Is that so, Sparky?" Shalimar began to laugh. "Try to remember that if we do that, I'll begin to suffer severe attacks from my phobia of fire."  
  
Brennan chuckled. "Hell, Shal, sorry. I forgot that for a second." He moved closer and brushed his fingers down the side of her face. She froze, staring up into his deep brown eyes as if mesmerized. "But admit it," he continued, his voice low and husky, "Together, we'd be amazing. We're great teammates, incredible sparring partners, awesome friends - we'd be good, Shal."  
  
"Bren, I-" Shalimar was speechless. She didn't know what to say, and continued to stare at Brennan. Then suddenly, Jesse's voice blazed over Brennan's comring.  
  
"Brennan!" he yelled. "Where the hell are you? Are you with Shal?"  
  
Brennan scowled and turned around, scanning the periphery of the dance floor for any sign of Jesse and Emma. When he spotted them, he waved to get their attention and said into his comring: "I'm with Shal."  
  
It was Emma who replied. "No, you aren't, Bren." Her voice was suddenly frightened. "We don't see her."  
  
"What?" Brennan turned around so fast that he might have had propulsion abilities. He found himself staring into empty space. Panic filling his mind and making him feel almost suffocated, he realized that the green- eyed, sandy-haired guy who had been nearby was also gone.  
  
Max?  
  
Fear building up inside him like an icy hand over his heart, he realized that he knew only one thing for sure:  
  
Shalimar was gone.  
  
***  
  
They had searched every alley near the club, but there had been no sign of the beautiful golden-haired feral. Brennan had gone crazy, broken up over what he had allowed to happen, even though everyone tried to convince him it wasn't his fault.  
  
Then, in the last alley, almost two miles away from the club, they had found Shalimar's comring, and both her shoes.  
  
Adam had commanded them to return to Sanctuary. It had taken all Emma's calming efforts in Brennan's mind, and Jesse's massed strength to force Brennan to get into the car and get back to Sanctuary with them.  
  
It had now been twenty-four hours since they had left for the club, and there was still no information about where Shalimar could be or what could have happened to her. Emma sat in the garden by the pools and fountains, meditating and trying to get a hit off her best friend. Jesse helped Adam in the lab, and both searched and worked zealously to find their missing 'daughter' and 'sister'. Brennan was taking it the hardest, spending his time on the dojo with the holograms and the punching bag.  
  
None of them wanted to release their real feelings of grief and terror at the thought of losing a woman they all loved in their various different ways.  
  
At midnight, they grouped in the lab in another attempt to search for Shalimar. Adam brought up a photograph of Max Reyes in the database, but Brennan, looking at the red-haired, brown-eyed man, made a startling discovery.  
  
"Adam, I saw another man there, standing near us," he said slowly. "I think he might have been the one to take Shalimar, because when I turned, they had both disappeared."  
  
"Sandy hair and green eyes, right?" Adam asked. He tapped in this data and the picture changed slightly. "Max is clever. He's gotten coloured contact lenses and dyed his hair. An old trick, but it changes his appearance completely."  
  
Brennan swallowed hard. "What'll he do to her, Adam?"  
  
Adam didn't reply, but merely looked at each of his three remaining children sadly. "God, Shalimar," he whispered pleadingly, "We can't lose you."  
  
TBC.  
  
A/N: Sorry I took so long to finish this chapter; the third one will be up as soon as possible! Please R&R and tell me what you guys thought of this. Thanks for the previous awesome reviews! 


	3. Forgive Me

Dark Tomorrow  
  
Chapter 3: Forgive me  
  
The room was dark and fairly small, and her feral senses could detect no other life in it; only the smell of musk and the glimmer of the cream walls.  
  
Her head hurt like hell. She sat up slowly; realizing that blood soaked some of her tank top and that there was dried blood on the side of her face where her attacker had hit her to knock her out when she had put up too much of a fight.  
  
Shalimar buried her head in her hands. How long had she been unconscious? What did Max Reyes want with her, and why hadn't he brutally attacked or killed her yet, like all the other mutants? Where were her friends? She just hoped they were okay.  
  
Suddenly, her ears picked up the sounds of footsteps, and the next second, the door opened - and the same sandy-haired, green-eyes man who had grabbed her walked in. He switched on a light, and the plain, cream-coloured room was filled with brightness that nearly blinded her for a second. She growled and tried to flash her eyes, but was rewarded with unbelievable pain.  
  
A governor!  
  
"Well, Shalimar, I see you're awake - at last." Max drawled. "What took you so long? It's been nearly thirty-six hours since you were attacked." He came towards her and touched the side of her head, looking amused when she flinched away. "Looks like I may have hit you harder than I had intended. But you do have that effect on people, Shalimar."  
  
"What do you want?" Shalimar spat at him.  
  
He grinned. "The other mutants were tortured and killed within twelve hours of capture," he explained. "Don't you get it? I want YOU. No other mutant has fought me off with as much fire and as much skill as you did, and I'll admit it: I like 'em feisty."  
  
Shalimar was repulsed. "You're crazy if you think I'll do anything for you."  
  
Max shrugged. "You will, even if I have to hurt and torture you until you beg for mercy and beg to be given another chance to do what I want. Don't worry," his smile was extremely frightening, "I'm sure you'll enjoy it."  
  
"Screw you." The feral snarled.  
  
Max wasn't paying attention. He had gone to the computer screen at one side of the room and was tapping something into the keys. "I know all about you and your Mutant X," he told her casually, as if it were a coffee-shop conversation. "After Adam created me, I kept a tab on him. Incredibly good luck, isn't it, that I get you and get revenge upon my creator with just one stone?"  
  
Shalimar stared at him, beginning to feel terrified about what he might do. She felt tears sting her eyes as she longed for Brennan to have Brennan come here and keep her safe, but she refused to let Max see her real feelings. She simply glared at him.  
  
He opened a cabinet near the computers and pulled out a bunch of things. Shalimar could identify a Polaroid camera and a WHIP - but then her mind froze. A whip???  
  
The next seconds happened in a blur. Shalimar only registered the grief and pain growing inside her as she felt Max hit her over and over again and then lash at her with the whip - "like an animal," he said with a laugh.  
  
Then it stopped. Her eyes closed and her body and experiencing pain unlike anything else, Shalimar barely registered the loud click from somewhere close by, before she slipped into darkness, tears beginning to slide down her cheeks.  
  
"Brennan!" she whispered desperately.  
  
Before she drowned in that endless black void, only one thought kept playing over and over in her mind:  
  
Forgive me.  
  
***  
  
They were having dinner in the kitchen, none of them very hungry, when the system in the lab began to beep loudly.  
  
Adam leaped up. "That's a new e-mail alert!" he said, hurrying off, closely followed by the younger members of the team.  
  
"Maybe it's form Shal!" Jesse said eagerly, his red-rimmed blue-grey eyes giving away the fact that he hadn't gotten much rest or peace since his oldest friend and sister had been captured.  
  
"Maybe." Brennan muttered softly, but Emma could see that he too was hoping. But what Emma didn't say - what she couldn't tell them - was that until a few hours ago, Emma had received weak heart signals from her best friend, signalling that Shalimar was alive. A couple of hours ago, those signals had stopped.  
  
Emma had never been more scared in her life.  
  
Adam was accessing the e-mail when they came in. His eyes were blank, which signalled trouble, because it meant Adam's feelings were much to strong to be shown. "It's from Max." he said tersely.  
  
"What does it say?" Brennan demanded, staring over Adam's shoulder.  
  
An image came up onto the screen; an uploaded photograph. The entire team looked on in pure horror at the photograph of Shalimar, scarred, battered and bruised - blood everywhere and the wide red slashes of a whip covering her body. Her clothes were dishevelled, and her eyes, the only part of her face distinguishable through the cuts and blood, were closed in an expression of resignation that meant only death to them.  
  
There was a message attached in the e-mail: "To her credit, she put up a fight till the end. I'll be keeping her body, Adam, but don't bother searching for me: you'll never find me. Even your psionic mutant won't be able to locate me. Till we meet again - Max."  
  
For a moment, no one spoke and no one even breathed. Then Adam bowed his head, and they heard him choke out: "Come back, Shal. Oh, God, I'm so, so sorry."  
  
"No." Brennan growled angrily, his grief beginning to seep out. "Not her! No, Adam!"  
  
He turned and fled from the room, his jaw hard. In the room, Emma began to cry, her tears and sobs mingling together to release her terrible grief. Jesse automatically put his arms around her, but he was crying too. He wept as he thought about Shalimar and how much she had done for him and how much she had meant to him. How was he supposed to go on without her? How much pain had she felt before darkness had taken her?  
  
They didn't notice that Adam, his back to them and his head low, was also grieving deeply and although they sensed the uncontrollable shaking of his shoulders, they couldn't help him because they couldn't even help themselves.  
  
And losing control against the corridor outside Shalimar's bedroom, Brennan Mulwray, tough rebel and hardened electric, felt his heart break as he fell to his knees and sobbed.  
  
TBC.  
  
A/N: So how was this chapter? I got some great reviews for my second chapter - thanks a lot! :-D I hope you guys enjoy this one too; please R&R and tell me what you thought. Fourth chapter coming up soon! 


	4. Past Hope

Dark Tomorrow  
  
Chapter 4: Past Hope  
  
~One Year Later.~  
  
"Are you Helen Sampson?" Jesse asked the young woman with wild black hair and startlingly blue eyes. She looked at him, her head snapping towards him a movement like Emma often did, and he was struck with an image of the same woman running away from a group of the GSA agents. He blinked. "That's your mutant power, huh? You're a psionic?"  
  
"Yes, I think so. I think I'm telempathic, like Emma, who I spoke to earlier." she nodded, looking frightened. "She said Mutant X could save me from those men. Please help me."  
  
At that moment Brennan came running into the basement, followed by two of Ekhart's men. He turned around at the last minute, formed a ball of electricity in his hand and flung it at both of them.  
  
"I suggest we leave now." He said in a flat voice. "There are more of them."  
  
Jesse nodded. There had been days when Brennan had been eager to fight all the GSA agents and floor them one by one. But now, it had been a long time since Brennan had felt the thrill of a fight. Just over a year, in fact.  
  
Don't go there, Jess - he warned himself. Only pain and grief lies in that memory.  
  
"Come on, Helen," he said, trying valiantly to smile light-heartedly. What was the point anyway? She was a telempath. She could probably sense his heart. He shot a look at Brennan and then said: "We'll take the back way." He pointed at the back wall of the basement.  
  
Helen was confused. "But that's a wall!"  
  
Brennan folded his arms. "You're forgetting we're all mutants here." There was just a hint of a smile on his face, and it hurt Jesse to see the irretrievable sadness in his best friend's eyes.  
  
He phased the wall and Brennan, he and Helen moved out, escaping to the Double Helix and making their way to a safehouse where Helen would be deposited.  
  
***  
  
Adam was working feverishly on something in the lab when Brennan and Jesse stumbled in at midnight. Jesse had just massed without intending to, and Brennan had seen it, and they were both wondering what was wrong.  
  
After a thorough scan, Adam simply smiled and said: "You have a slight fever, Jess, that's all. The rise in your body temperature is causing your powers to flare without you even trying. You just need a days' rest, and a pill-" he handed Jesse a tablet from a small container. He gave Jesse a fatherly grin. "Now go off to bed and get some sleep."  
  
"Do you even sleep anymore, Adam?" Brennan asked, although it was ironic, because sleep rarely found him anymore either. "What are you doing in here anyway?"  
  
"Nothing." Adam said, a bit too quickly. "Nothing much." He tapped a key on the system so that the data on the screen faded.  
  
Brennan glanced at Jesse, who just shrugged, and then they both turned and headed off to their rooms. Outside Jesse's door, Brennan said quietly: "If Shal was here, she'd have tucked you in and made you chicken soup, and refused to leave your side."  
  
Jesse looked at him. Brennan was the only one other than Jesse who still talked about Shalimar and still confessed that he missed her like crazy. Adam never mentioned her name - it was as if his first child had never existed. And Emma - well, it was hard to say what Emma felt anyway - but she had kept to herself for most of the past year, and never talked about Shal either.  
  
"God, I miss her, Brennan." Jesse mumbled softly.  
  
Brennan gripped Jesse's shoulder for a second. "I know you do, Jess. So do I." He swallowed the horrible lump in his throat. "I can't believe I never - I never told her that I - I loved her. I still do. More than anything else." He blinked. "Do you think she forgives us for losing her, Jess?"  
  
"I don't believe she'd have ever blamed us," Jesse smiled slightly. Tears shone in his eyes as he said: "I just don't want to think about how much pain she must have been him, or how scared she must have been - wondering where we were and why we hadn't come for her yet."  
  
"I still can't believe she's gone." Brennan said angrily, banging his fist against the wall. "Adam and Emma - they act like she was never even here. They haven't stepped into her room in months, even though they never forced us to pack away her things. But late some nights, if I close my eyes, I can almost hear her crying out to me in some dark corner of her mind and my mind. It's like she's crying out for me to go to her."  
  
Jesse shook his head. "She didn't deserve what she got, Bren. She was so beautiful, so young and such an amazing person." He blinked back the tears. "I guess I should get into bed; don't want to get really sick." He muttered softly. "G'nite, Bren."  
  
"'Night, Jess." Brennan mumbled thickly.  
  
They went into their respective bedrooms and locked the doors.  
  
In the lab, Adam Kane resumed his search on Max Reyes and continued his probing into his own history with Max, searching for some answers to the questions that had formed in his mind a long time ago. Tears threatened to overwhelm him, but for the team's safe and for Shalimar, the child he had lost, he had to be strong.  
  
Brennan Mulwray fell into a restless sleep in the early hours of the morning. He dreamt for the first time in weeks, and she invaded his dreams for the first time in months. Again, he felt the tears of grief stain his face, and the hollow ache and longing in his heart grow as he heard her voice, soft and fading, cry out to him over and over again.  
  
In his room, Jesse Kilmartin lay away with his face in his pillow. He had never been able to come to terms with the loss of Shalimar, and he didn't think he ever would. But it was only in the morning, when he realized his pillow was soaked and his eyes were red, that he knew exactly how much pain he was in.  
  
Two doors away, Emma DeLauro had a terrible nightmare where her lost best friend was crying and suffering extreme pain and screaming for release from the small, cold metal cage she was trapped in.  
  
They all knew that the dead could not send messages through the mind. They all knew that the dead could not feel anything in their hearts or their minds. It was a fact they had known all their lives.  
  
So it was strange, they thought numbly through their consuming grief, that even a year after her death, the cage and the voices and the terrible pain seemed to be in Shalimar's mind.  
  
TBC.  
  
A/N: So sorry for how long it took to update this chapter, but I had a movie premiere to go to (**bet you guys never guessed I was an actress! ;- )**). Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this chapter; more will be up soon. Please R&R, thanks!!!! 


	5. Don't I Know You?

Dark Tomorrow  
  
Chapter 5: Don't I Know You?  
  
The diners in Enzo's Café judged the good-looking black-haired man to be about twenty-nine years old. The woman with him-about twenty-five, they said-was beautiful and agile, but the diners were struck by the hooded jacket she wore. It wasn't cold, or windy at all, and yet she covered her head with the grey hood, her hair invisible and her face almost completely in shadow.  
  
They sat down at a corner table, and the man ordered two burgers. He glanced at his companion and frowned.  
  
"You could look a little more cheerful." He said in a low voice. "There's no need to act like someone just died."  
  
"That's how I feel." She said softly, her voice tightly controlled.  
  
She knew she should be grateful to him, but some part of he refused to be. That part of her was strange, she thought, because it rebelled against everything he said to her and seemed to have a voice of its own. He had rescued her from the streets - he had told her when she had woken up, and he had taken care of her for months now.  
  
But try as she might, she simply couldn't remember her life before she woke up in his bedroom. She couldn't remember what the world on the streets had been like and she couldn't for the life of her remember why she was, well - different. Sometimes, in the cold darkness of the night, when she couldn't sleep, she'd get flashes of something - images, and voices.  
  
If she strained hard enough deep into the night, she could bring a pair of deep, incredible brown eyes into her mind. It gave her some sort of comfort, some kind of peace. But through it all, deep in the darkest hollows on her heart, that rebelling part of her would scream for release.  
  
What had happened to her to give her such a mental block and amnesia?  
  
He was talking to her, and she forced herself to forget her thoughts and listen. His eyes, an emerald green behind his dark sunglasses, narrowed thoughtfully. "You're trying to remember, aren't you?"  
  
"Trying." She said pointedly. "Isn't there something in your high-tech lab that could jerk my memory or something? I really hate not having any memories, or not knowing who I really am."  
  
"What's the point?" he reached across and took her hand. "All that matters now is you and me. You - a great bed - and me. Nothing else matters anymore, honey."  
  
She sighed. Sometimes when they were - together, that part of her would scream even louder, screaming that it was not what she wanted and she'd lie limp, trying not to feel anything, believing that he was almost forcing himself on her.  
  
A sudden crash from the alley outside made them both turn in that direction. Some part of her wanted to go there and see what was going on.  
  
"Trouble down there." He muttered, his eyes flashing an inhuman gold as he peered through the glass window down into the depths of the alley. "Let's go. We don't want to be found by any GSA agents."  
  
She had heard about these agents many times from him, but had never really understood what they wanted or why they were after people like her and him. She stood up and obediently followed him out, pausing only when he stopped to cancel their order.  
  
As she walked quickly to keep up with him, the hood pulled low over her head and her hands shoved into the pockets, her mind drifted back to her shadowed past and her future, which to her, only consisted of dark tomorrows.  
  
***  
  
"It was one of Ekhart's traps, Adam!" Emma yelled into her comring, knocking out the agent running towards her with a psi blast. "We're going to take them down and then get back to Double Helix."  
  
"Be careful." Adam's voice warned.  
  
Brennan fired a bolt of electricity at one of the agents and began exchanging blows with another one, a swift Chinese with lots of skill. Jesse was massing and phasing at alternatives, thoroughly throwing the men attacking him off-balance, and seemingly having a good time doing it.  
  
The last man was down when the three young mutants turned and saw two figures hurrying around the corner of the alley. The first one was definitely male, with dark sunglasses, a slightly misshapen nose that must have been broken at one point, and short black hair. The second figure was smaller and slimmer, but when they both stopped, frozen less than twenty feet away from the Mutant X team, they realized that it was a woman. Her face and hair were indistinguishable because they were in the shadow of her hood.  
  
Emma's eyes froze on the woman and she was hit with an image of a solid brick wall. Memory loss?  
  
What drew their attention most was the fact that the man's eyes flashed an uncontrollable golden.  
  
"A feral, huh?" Brennan asked. He frowned at the man and thought he looked just a little bit familiar. "Are either one of you the mutant that contacted Adam?"  
  
"Mutant?" the woman's voice was soft and tentative. "You're mutants too? Who's Adam?" she looked at the man. "Ray? Where have I heard of 'Adam' before?"  
  
The man glared at the team. "Let's go, honey."  
  
"Stop." Brennan growled. He was staring at the woman. That body, that sweet voice - it struck a chord in his heart that hurt so much that he could hardly breathe. "Don't I know you?"  
  
"I-I-" she stammered, obviously suddenly very confused, and very frightened.  
  
Emma stepped forward, her voice gentle: "Who are you?"  
  
"That's none of your damn business." The man snapped. "Adam's Underground is strictly voluntary. You three have no control over us."  
  
"Maybe not," Jesse said in his reasonable voice, "But we would like to know who you are. Why don't you take off your sunglasses and ask your friend there to lower her hood?"  
  
The woman looked at him. Then she shrugged and lifted a hand to pull down her hood.  
  
"No!" the man said, so forcefully that they saw the telltale surprised jerk of the woman's shoulders. Her hand froze. "Don't take off your hood, honey. These people are dangerous. They want to capture us and do tests on us. If they know who you are, they'll come after you."  
  
They were astonished by the flash of backbone that the woman displayed then, but not as much as they were by her voice when it was clear and indignant.  
  
"If they know who I am, Ray, then I'm willing to take that risk!"  
  
"That voice!" Jesse was unable to move.  
  
She pulled off her hood and a cascade of gorgeous blonde hair swirled around her shoulders.  
  
"That hair!" Emma gasped.  
  
"Those eyes!" Brennan choked.  
  
The woman stared at them, her eyes completely bewildered. They could see her growing fear, and the growing of the puzzle pieces in her damaged mind. She was so confused.  
  
"Who - who are you?" she asked.  
  
Max Reyes lost his temper. "You ruined everything, you little whore! Dammit, Shalimar, I thought I ordered you not to remove your hood!"  
  
TBC.  
  
A/N: A twist in the tale, huh? Hope you liked this, and I hope you're all dying with suspense and delight! Sixth chapter coming up soon; please R&R for this one. 


	6. Things Aren't Always What They Seem

Dark Tomorrow  
  
Chapter 6: Things Aren't Always What They Seem  
  
To Brennan, it was as if the world had begun to spin wildly and he couldn't control it. For a moment, his mind was blank, unseeing, uncomprehending. He simply couldn't grasp what he was seeing standing before him. It was like his wildest dreams had been answered.  
  
Then Max removed his sunglasses, his green eyes glowing out at them like they had so many times in Brennan's nightmares, and suddenly, everything became clear.  
  
"You!" he spat, making a furious move towards Max. "You bastard! What did you do to her mind, huh? What have you done to her body?"  
  
"Take it easy, Mr. Mulwray," Max drawled, looking suddenly amused. "You and your little Mutant X have no claim over Shalimar anymore. She wants only me; she belongs to me."  
  
Jesse had to throw an arm across Brennan's chest to block him from throwing himself at Max in a pure rage. They knew that fighting with Max would be dangerous, especially with Brennan's emotions spurring way out of control.  
  
Emma moved forward towards Shalimar, who was shaking slightly and staring at them with a terrible confusion and fear in her eyes. "Shal," she said softly. "It's me, it's Emma. Your private thoughts-snooper. Your best friend. It's me, Shalimar."  
  
The feral's lip trembled and she hugged herself with shaking arms. Emma tried to breach her mind once more, but only saw that dreadful brick wall before her. What the hell had Max done to her? This was no kind of amnesia Emma had ever experienced before. It was tampering.  
  
"Jesse," she said in a low voice. "Talk to her. I'll keep Brennan and Max apart."  
  
Brennan was glaring at Max with utter hate and fury blazing in his brown eyes. Jesse took one look at him and moved towards the companion he had missed so terribly for a year.  
  
"Shalimar," he said, giving her an innocent-boy smile that could melt the hardest of hearts. "Emma's your friend, your confidante. And what about Adam? Your father in spirit, Shal, and the man you could turn to when there was no else. Don't you remember me? Your Jesse? The one you would tease unmercifully? You'd use my arm as a punching bag sometimes, and once I massed just to tease you and you nearly broke your wrist. Remember that? You forgave me, just like you're the only one I could forgive anything."  
  
She was listening now, the fear slowly draining out of her eyes. Brennan and Max were still locked in deadly combat with their eyes. Shalimar looked at Jesse and for a moment, he caught her eye and he saw the woman he knew in them - but so briefly that he thought he might have imagined it.  
  
"And what about Brennan, Shal?" Jesse continued gently, stepping a little closer. She didn't flash her eyes at the trespass of her territory or cower backwards in fear. That was a start. "What do you think it will do to Brennan if you don't return to us? Brennan cares about you in a way that even I can't understand. Don't you remember him? Don't you remember your endless bantering and sparring matches and teasing flirting?"  
  
"Brennan . . ." the word was barely a whisper, and yet it caught his attention and he tore his eyes away from Max to lock with Shalimar's.  
  
His heart ached terribly at the pain he saw deep in her eyes. Anger bubbled up in him as he thought about how much Max must have done to her . . .done with her. "Oh, Shal," he stretched out his hand to her. "Don't leave me again. I can't live without you anymore, this past year has been worse than hell. Come back to us, Shal. Come back to me."  
  
She looked deep into his brown eyes and he saw the flash of recognition there. Tears brimmed in her eyes and began to slip out. "Brennan." She sobbed.  
  
"No!" Max snarled, grabbing her arms. "You can't go with them, Shalimar, remember how much you owe me! He doesn't care about you; only I do, remember? These people are the reason you were lost on the streets!"  
  
"Don't listen to him!" Emma shouted as Max began to pull Shalimar away.  
  
Brennan looked at her despairingly. Jesse yelled: "No, Shalimar!"  
  
But even thought Shalimar tried, Max was much to strong and he launched his propulsion powers, blurring away from them, his arms wrapped tightly around his possession.  
  
"No!" Brennan growled, his voice breaking like an injured wolf. "I love you, Shalimar! Dammit, I love you!"  
  
A second later, the blur and their beloved lost friend, were gone.  
  
***  
  
"We thought she was dead!" Jesse yelled at Adam. "How could Emma not pick up her life signals? How could we have believed for so long that she was gone? How could you not have known?"  
  
Adam's eyes were weary and sad, but he gave them a small smile. "Things aren't always what they seem, Jesse, as been proven here." He sighed, his longing to have his Shalimar back almost unbearable. "We haven't lost her yet."  
  
"Oh, yeah?" Brennan demanded. "Then how do we find them this time?"  
  
"Do you know what I've been doing in my lab every night?" Adam asked. "I've been searching. Searching my own history with Max, and I've made a surprising discovery. Back when Max was first created, he worked as my assistant in the labs. One night, I discovered a few vials that I had produced - two potions - were missing. They didn't seem important to me then, so I ignored their loss, believing I would remake the potions some other time."  
  
"Your point is?" Brennan asked snappily.  
  
Adam shrugged. "My point is: Max stole them. Do you know what those potions were for?"  
  
Emma was already picking up on his thoughts. "Let me guess," she said softly. "One completely erased prior memory in the subject it was injected to, and the other inserted a mental block into the mind of the subject, rendering it inaccessible and therefore undetectable by any technology, including a psionic's mind."  
  
"My God," Jesse choked when Adam nodded sadly, "The bastard injected Shalimar with both the potions, didn't he? And injected himself with the second one - the mental block to psionics - so that Emma and the rest of us could never track him down."  
  
"That's what I believe, now that you've told me what happened and how Shalimar reacted." Adam confirmed. "I believe Emma and Jesse were able to take that seedling of memory in Shalimar's mind - the one that's been crying out to us for help and release in our sleep and hers - and plant it firmly, and I believe Brennan's voice and eyes were able to trigger some of her memory back - so that she could recognize and know him at least."  
  
Brennan banged his fist against the lab wall, rattling the machines. It had become a habit with him to take out his fury on the walls, because he no longer had any passion for sparring or working out of the dojo - they reminded him too much of Shalimar.  
  
"I don't believe this!" he spat bitterly. He looked at Adam with the first trace of hope in his eyes. "Can you make a cure, Adam?"  
  
This time, Adam's smile was genuine. "I still have the formula for the potions in my records; from them I can concoct the cure. It should take two days, maybe less, and the cure would take effect on Shalimar about twenty- four hours after we inject it."  
  
"There's a problem there," Emma said, shaking her head. "You know the potions' power. How the hell are we supposed to find Max and Shalimar again?"  
  
Brennan sank into a chair, the hope and brief light in his handsome face dying. "We're right back where we started aren't we?" he said quietly, the slightest glimmer of tears in those distinctive coffee-colored eyes.  
  
TBC.  
  
A/N: Quite a cliffhanger in the previous chapter, wasn't there? I hope you guys liked this one and I hope it satisfied your curiosity . . . for now. Please R&R and let me know how this went, and I'll post the seventh chapter as soon as it's finished. 


	7. Beautiful Orchid

Dark Tomorrow  
  
Chapter 7: Beautiful Orchid  
  
It had been five days since they had seen Shalimar, and at two in the morning, Brennan still could not fall asleep. He turned over onto his back in his cool bed, feeling the wetness of his pillow beneath his weary head.  
  
The usual night sounds could be heard around him. Emma's sleep-talking murmurs from a few doors away, Jesse's ragged breathing that often indicated his crying, Adam's clicking and tapping in the lab downstairs.  
  
Brennan yearned for her in ways that he'd never felt before. He missed everything about her - her fiery temper, her seductive flirting, and her playful punching . . . the way she was always there to save her friends' butts, to talk them out of crazy ideas yet attempting them herself, the way she was so easy to talk to that even he himself and even Jesse had opened up to her and trusted her in a way that they had never done with anyone before and never would . . . he missed so deeply her beautiful eyes and glorious golden locks of hair, her musical voice and husky laugh, and that smile.  
  
He felt that surge of fierce jealousy as he thought about what Max must have done with her and to her. The jealousy grew to anger as it always did, and his heart aching unbearably, Brennan swore he'd find Shalimar and bring her home to them - to him - even if he had to die for it.  
  
Where was she? What was she doing now? Was she thinking about Mutant X . . .about him, like he was constantly thinking and aching for her?  
  
"Oh, Shal." Brennan whispered into the darkness of his room.  
  
The sound of clattering footsteps outside and doors slamming was so unexpected that Brennan sat bolt upright in his bed, switching on the light immediately. A split-second later, Emma burst into his room, clutching her throbbing head. Brennan was in a pair of dark jeans and without a shirt, but he didn't seem to notice as he stood up.  
  
"Emma?" he stared at her in a little concern. "What's wrong?"  
  
Jesse and Adam appeared in the doorway, Jesse's eyes scared and red and Adam's eyes tired, but worried. "What happened?" Adam asked, his tone completely paternal.  
  
"Shal . . ." Emma gasped, staring at Brennan, moving towards him. "She's trying to reach you, Brennan. Through me." She gasped and touched Brennan's temples with her fingertips. Immediately, Brennan felt a flood of images invade his mind in a crazy jumble.  
  
Slowly they cleared and Brennan heard a voice, from far away: "Help me, Brennan. Save me . . .black orchid. Black orchid."  
  
And it was gone.  
  
Emma withdrew her fingers, looking shaken. "My God. I've never heard of that happening before. It must have taken a hell of a lot out of her to force the cry through me to you, through the walls that the potions built."  
  
"More like nearly killed her," Adam said grimly. "That effort would have knocked her out, wherever she is. Oh, Shalimar." He sighed, tears stinging his eyes. Then he looked at Brennan. "Did she say anything that could have pinpointed her location?"  
  
"She - she said 'black orchid'." Brennan whispered, his heart wrenching at the experience he'd just had.  
  
Jesse looked confused. "Black orchid?" he frowned. "What could that mean? It could mean a nightclub or restaurant, but there aren't any around here with that name. I could run a full check, though."  
  
"It could mean literally a black orchid," Emma suggested. "But that makes no sense."  
  
"Black orchid . . ." something awoke in Brennan's long-suppressed memories. "Oh my God. There was a beautiful old cemetery up in the hills; it was Shal's special place and she took me there once. When we there - she pointed out that the only thing that grew in the place were orchids, and she said so poetically: 'in the shadow of death, only orchids seem to survive here. Black orchids, Brennan, because no light reaches them here'. I remember that."  
  
They looked at each other.  
  
"What does that mean?" Adam rubbed his head, thinking deeply. "Is Shalimar trying to tell us that she wants us to bury her in our past and forget?"  
  
"No!" Brennan said violently. "She asked me to help her. No, Adam, this means something else."  
  
"I saw an image of a long flight of stairs going down into a tunnel when she was trying to reach us," Emma offered helpfully, her face screwed up in the effort to remember every little detail. "Does that help?"  
  
Jesse snapped his fingers. "Hang on a sec! This cemetery, Brennan, is in the hills, right? Didn't you build one of your first labs in the hills, Adam?"  
  
"That's right," Adam's voice rose with hope. "There built a cemetery very close to the trapdoor in the land that leads down a flight of stairs into the tunnel that takes us to the lab." His eyes shone for the first time in so long. "My God, could it be possible that Max is using that lab and it's housing quarters now to hold and live with Shalimar?"  
  
"I think it's more than possible." Brennan interrupted. "What the hell are we waiting for? Let's get over there."  
  
Adam nodded. "Emma, get dressed and start the Double Helix. Jesse, after you change I want you to run some checks on that area and the cemetery and match the locations to my database to pinpoint the exact coordinates of the trapdoor. Brennan, get your shirt on. All of you, be careful." He begged. His voice shook for a moment: "And bring her back."  
  
"Get the cure ready, Adam," Jesse gripped his 'father's' shoulder tightly. "We'll bring her back home."  
  
Adam flashed him the first real smile they had seen in days, and his shoulders much more relaxed and his eyes alight with new energy, he left straight to his lab. Emma, hardly able to contain her own hope and elation, raced off to change and start the Double Helix. Jesse stayed there for a moment, and met Brennan's eyes.  
  
"This is it, Bren." He said softly. "Today could be the day we finally get her back."  
  
"We can't lose her, Jesse." Brennan's eyes blazed with dangerous threat. "I'm just dying to meet our friend Max again. If you get to him first, Jess, leave me a piece."  
  
Jesse grinned for a second. "I'll do that." He promised. "I think you deserve the largest chunk, but I'm getting some of it."  
  
"Our Shal is something else, isn't she?" Brennan's eyes softened for a moment. "I love her like crazy, Jess." He chuckled softly, the grief lifting from his face for a split-second. Then his eyes darkened painfully. "She could have died trying to reach me, and she risked Max's wrath. That must mean she remembers something!" he shook his head. "She's amazing. A glow of sunlight when everything else is dark. And Jesse - thanks for everything. You and Adam and Emma have been there for me through everything this past year. I'll never forget that."  
  
"I'll be there forever - for Emma, for Adam, for you and for Shal." Jesse replied, giving Brennan a quick brotherly hug. "Now, come on. Let's get over there and get our teammate out of that madman's hold!" His face lit up boyishly for just a moment. "A beautiful orchid, Bren, that's our Shal."  
  
TBC.  
  
A/N: Is this a false alarm or the real thing? Hmm . . . stay tuned! I hope you guys liked this chapter, though, I hope the story's everything you hoped it would be. Please R&R and let me know, and thanks for all the great reviews so far (great encouragement!!!). Eight chapter upcoming. 


	8. Old Instincts

Dark Tomorrow  
  
Chapter 8: Old Instincts  
  
The Double Helix flew over the hills under its cloak. Brennan cracked his knuckles impatiently, occasional bolts of electricity dancing off his fingers due to his restless energy. Jesse was piloting, but he kept tapping his foot on the floor and Emma was pacing the aircraft. They were all desperate to reach the coordinates Adam had given them.  
  
"Can't this thing fly any faster?" Brennan asked.  
  
"It's already top speed, Bren," Jesse smiled. "We'll be there soon."  
  
Brennan obviously didn't believe 'soon' was soon enough, but they all understood his feelings so some extent and were kind of feeling the same way. They all wanted Shalimar back.  
  
"Here we are," Jesse announced ten minutes late, landing the Double Helix on a patch of flat land near the cemetery. They all clambered out hurriedly and ran towards the cemetery.  
  
There, lying in a patch near the graves, were a cluster of beautiful orchids, darkened in the sorrowful shadow of the area. Brennan gazed down at them for a moment and gently plucked one of the flowers. Then they headed for the trapdoor, which it took them another ten minutes to find.  
  
Jesse massed and smashed the door opened, and Brennan leading the way, they slowly walked down the long flight of stairs that Emma had seen when Shalimar broke into her mind. The tunnel that lay ahead was long and brightly lit with lamps. Brennan launched an electricity wave throughout the tunnel that would throw off any hidden cameras or devices.  
  
"Come on," he said grimly. "We have a friend to save."  
  
***  
  
She could feel him . . .somewhere in the depths of her mind she knew her efforts had given her what she wanted - he was coming for her.  
  
She'd paid for that moment of release dearly. She'd collapsed into unconsciousness, only to be awoken by the lash of Max's whip. He had guessed she was up to something and had punished her for it. She only prayed now that he didn't know they were coming.  
  
They were coming, weren't they?  
  
Sitting on a hard, cold bed, she tried to remember them. Fragments of memories with Brennan came to her - his eyes, the way he would hold her tightly when she was upset or sad, the way he would talk to her for hours and be so fiercely protective of her. She'd thought he was being a brother.  
  
But she had heard him. She'd heard him cry out that he loved her. Dare she believe him, or would she just end up heartbroken? Because she loved him so much it tore at her heart. She knew that she loved him; it was a memory that had never been lost inside her.  
  
Sometimes, like now, when she tried desperately, she would receive snatches of Emma's gentle chiding or an older man's fatherly hugs and soothing voice. Adam was the name that came to her when she thought about that. And sometimes, she's get snatches of Jesse's laughter and the boyish sparkle in his eyes that had died when she had looked into them five days ago.  
  
Please come for me - she begged silently.  
  
The door slammed open and Max stood there, his eyes harsh and accusing. "What have you been doing?" he demanded. "Why are you still crying?"  
  
She realized that tears were staining her cheeks and she angrily wiped them away. She was too tired to fight him now, so she just looked at him sadly. "What did you do to me, Max? You didn't save me from the streets? You took me, didn't you? And what have you done to my mind?"  
  
"You're crazy; you let those sorry excuses for mutants tamper with your mind," he spat furiously. "I saved you, you ungrateful woman."  
  
"You destroyed me." She said softly, too hurt and too weak to battle.  
  
The crash of something downstairs that reached both sets of feral ears made Max turned quickly. "I'll be back." He snarled at her, before taking off down the corridor, slamming and locking her door quickly as he left.  
  
She sank further into the shadows, praying for Jesse and Emma and most of all Brennan, and awaiting her fate, whatever it might be.  
  
***  
  
"She's upstairs." Brennan said to Jesse and Emma firmly. "I know she is. I sense her."  
  
Footsteps approaching the stairs alerted them all. "Jesse, phase Brennan through the wall to get upstairs." Emma ordered. "You and I can stay down here and fight Max."  
  
"Don't finish him." Brennan commanded as Jesse obligingly phased the wall and Brennan raced through. "I'll be back!" were his last words to them before the wall solidified again.  
  
Brennan hid behind the corner as he watched Max run down the stairs. He felt a hot blaze of anger, but controlled it and turned away, hurrying down the corridor. He passed a few doors, but they were all either open or unlocked and he checked each room just in case.  
  
He reached a cream-colored door that was both closed and locked. He gentle jiggled the doorknob, but it wouldn't budge. He stood back and shot a coil of electricity at the knob. The lock clicked and the door opened slightly. Brennan pushed it further, feeling a sudden nervousness in his stomach, but he stepped into the dimly lit room.  
  
At first, he thought it was empty. Then he heard the soft, uneven breathing and in the deep shadows of the corner, the saw the familiar, curled-up shape that had invaded his dreams so many times.  
  
"Shal . . ." he breathed.  
  
The shape stiffened and then uncurled and slowly, the young feral stumbled out into the light. "Brennan?" she choked. Tears rolled down her cheeks. "You - you came for me!"  
  
"We all did," he told her gently. "We love you, Shal. I love you." Then he saw her clearly and his jaw hardened. That angry muscle began to twitch in his jaw and she saw it. "What did that bastard do to you?" he growled, seeing the whiplash on her stomach, the torn state of her tee shirt and jeans, and the cuts on her face.  
  
"He suspected I was up to something when I fell unconscious earlier." She whispered in a ragged voice. Then, without warning, she came towards him and fell into his arms, clinging to him tightly. "Don't leave me, Brennan," she begged, sobbing, and then collapsed, unconscious again, in his arms.  
  
He lifted her up and made for the door. "I'll never leave you." He promised softly, before carrying her lightweight down the corridor and towards the stairs.  
  
"Where's the jealous elemental?" he heard Max asked as he reached the stairs. Downstairs, he could see Max throwing punches at Jesse who was phasing in and out. Emma stood at hand, ready with her illusions and psi- blasts. But Jesse was hitting out with a massed fist, obviously relishing the pain he was causing the man who had destroyed his best friend and taken her away from him.  
  
"Right here." Brennan announced, going down the stairs. "Em, run and start the Double Helix. Jess, take Shal and go with her. I'll finish up here." He met Max's green eyes with blazing brown ones.  
  
Jesse took Shalimar from Brennan and started after Emma, who gave Shalimar a long, worried, sisterly and affectionate look before taking off towards the tunnel of Max's house and lab.  
  
Max watched them go with a bleeding mouth and forehead and he snarled: "No! She's mine!"  
  
But they were gone, and with one desperate attempt to escape, Max raced in the opposite direction, closely pursued by Brennan. He was cornered in his own lab, realizing he had nothing left to do but fight the murderously angry elemental, and he turned slowly to face Brennan.  
  
"I haven't felt much like fighting this past year," Brennan said calmly. "But like Shal, I'm beginning to get my old instincts back."  
  
Brennan broke his nose. "That was for what you've done to Adam," he told him. He kicked him hard in the stomach - twice. "THAT was for what you've done to Emma and Jesse by taking Shalimar away from them." He pulled back his elbow and slammed Max in the mouth, breaking two teeth. "That was for the agony you put me through, and THIS:" he fired up a bolt of electricity and shocked Max straight in a very sensitive area, "Was for everything you've done to Shal."  
  
Max staggered back in agony, moans of pain and torture coming from his throat. He stared at Brennan with fear in his eyes.  
  
"It's you and me now, you son of a bitch," Brennan growled, igniting electricity in his hands to give Max a smaller shock. "And I have one hell of a score to settle with you."  
  
TBC.  
  
A/N: I hope you like this! I love Shal and Brennan and I hope you guys do too, especially in this chapter. Enjoy, and please R&R so that I can upload the ninth chapter soon. 


	9. A Hard Road

Dark Tomorrow  
  
Chapter 9: A Hard Road  
  
Emma gently brushed Shalimar's hair back with her fingers, smiling with real joy, as she looked down at the unconscious feral.  
  
"Bring her back to Sanctuary," Adam's voice said over their comrings. "She's injured and I need to administer the cure as well."  
  
"We just have to wait for Brennan." Jesse responded. He was holding Shalimar's hand in his, and he said to Emma in an angry voice: "I could have beaten that guy to a pulp myself. Come on, Shal," he urged, his voice softening as he looked down at her closed eyelids. "Wake up."  
  
Emma went to the Helix door and looked out. "Where IS Brennan?" she demanded.  
  
"Give him a sec." Jesse said with a slight smile. "He has a debt to repay in full."  
  
At that moment, they saw Brennan, running towards them from the trapdoor. He didn't seem to be injured; there was only one cut on his forehead. He looked pretty happy with himself, but also a little grim and obviously worried about Shal. He reached the Double Helix and leaped in, bringing the door to a close behind him.  
  
"That was quick." Jesse commented.  
  
Brennan flashed him a quick grin. Then he asked: "How is she?"  
  
"No change. We have to get back." Emma started the Helix and she and Jesse went to the front, knowing Brennan would want to be with Shalimar now. They could spend time with their lost teammate later.  
  
Brennan gripped Shalimar's hand tightly as he sat down beside her. For a few moments there was silence in the aircraft as they concentrated on getting Shalimar back to Adam quickly.  
  
Then Jesse asked Brennan: "What happened to Max?"  
  
Brennan said nothing.  
  
"Brennan?" Jesse turned around to look at him and even Emma glanced back.  
  
"Max is dead." Brennan said shortly.  
  
There was stunned silence in the Helix as the others digested this information. Jesse, when he had recovered from the shock, shrugged and said: "He deserved it. He was a tortured mutant anyway; he's better off dead."  
  
"Maybe, but Adam won't be happy that one of his mutants is dead." Emma said quietly. "He considers them all his children." She sighed. "But he did deserve to die for what he did to Shal."  
  
They rode the rest of the way in silence, Shalimar still locked in the cage of her unconscious.  
  
***  
  
Shalimar awoke to a strange sensation. It felt as thought there were lasers boring into her body, and she blinking in the bright lab lights, she wondered for a second where she was and why this place was so familiar.  
  
"You're awake." A warm male voice said, drenched with relief and happiness. "Thank God."  
  
She looked up at him, stirring slightly in her position under the scan. "Adam?" she blurted hesitantly, her eyes confused and slightly frightened. "Where - where's Brennan?"  
  
Adam smiled down at her, hardly able to believe that she was actually here, right with them again, and safe. It would be a hard road to recovery, but she'd make it - he knew she would.  
  
"They're all resting." He told her. "Brennan was with you continuously for the past two days, with Jesse and Emma taking hour-long shifts."  
  
"Two days?" she gasped. "I've been out that long?"  
  
Adam sighed. "Max gave you a memory potion, Shal. I've injected you with the cure. It should take effect completely in another few hours. Of course, you'll still be a little weak and disoriented, but you'll be fine."  
  
For a moment, she said nothing, and then: "Do I really belong here, Adam?"  
  
"Oh, Shalimar," he took her hand and squeezed it. "You belong with the people who love you, and believe me when I tell you that we all love you. This past year has been the hardest of all our lives, and none of us were really able to come to terms with losing you." He kissed her forehead. "We don't want that ever happening again. You're the daughter I never had, and I'd give myself up to Genomex before letting anything happen to you again."  
  
Her eyes brimmed with tears at the sincerity and emotion in his voice, and for a moment, she remembered him . . .  
  
Closing her eyes and resting her head back on the cool pillow again, she let herself sink back into drowsy sleep, but not before squeezing Adam's hand in a gesture that spoke more volumes than any words.  
  
***  
  
"How is she, Adam?" Jesse asked.  
  
"She's asleep." Adam reported, smiling. "But she'll be fine."  
  
They all glanced at each other. They knew Shalimar would have problems fitting in with Mutant X again, and that it would be a while before she'd remember every little thing that had happened in her past and recover from the trauma Max had inflicted on her.  
  
But they were all prepared to do everything they could to help her through it and be there for her in ways that they hadn't been at that nightclub one year ago.  
  
"How long before she can get back into action?" Brennan asked, knowing that the inner Shalimar's first concern would be her fighting. "She'd want to know."  
  
Adam shrugged. "A month, give or take a few days depending on how strong she can be - and I believe she can be very strong."  
  
"Not many people would have survived her experiences." Emma pointed out.  
  
"We'll help her through this." Jesse vowed. "Until then, I think the most important thing to know right now is that she's safe."  
  
Brennan nodded, unable to suppress a smile. "Yeah, we have our Shal back."  
  
TBC.  
  
A/N: Tenth chapter coming up soon, please R&R and let me know what you guys think of this! I didn't want to make things too fluffy and all-okay as soon as Shal gets back, so there will be a couple of problems . . .ahem. Stay tuned! 


	10. Emma's Attempt

Dark Tomorrow  
  
Chapter Ten: Emma's Attempt  
  
**  
  
The Sanctuary was still and silent, and happier than it had been it days. Shalimar was back, and although there was still a lot to do to bring her back into the world she belonged it, the Mutant X team was thrilled.  
  
Adam had managed to convince Brennan and Jesse to go with him for a movie that night, in order to give the girls some time alone - he believed Emma could try and reach Shalimar, preferably without using her abilities.  
  
And so, just over an hour and half after the guys had left, Emma sought out her best friend, who was in the garden, staring into the clear streams of water.  
  
"What is it about water that makes people stare?" Emma asked wonderingly.  
  
Shalimar smiled. "Something very hypnotic, don't you think? I love the water, it's so simple and clear and pure . . ." she sighed.  
  
Emma sat down beside her. "Shal, you do know that you belong here with us, don't you?"  
  
"I guess I do." Shalimar admitted. "But some part of me is still afraid of letting you guys in, like I did with Max, because - " she broke off.  
  
"Because what?" Emma asked. "Shal, what did Max do you to?"  
  
"He hurt me." The feral said vaguely. "He betrayed me."  
  
"That's not all he did." Emma pointed out. "I'm empathic, Shal, remember? Even without reading you, I can sense there's something else. And you haven't even started using your feral abilities again."  
  
There was a flash of panic in Shalimar's eyes. "I don't want to." She said sharply.  
  
Emma stared at her best friend in disbelief. Something had definitely happened to her . . . where was the Shalimar Fox who loved the thrill of a fight and used any opportunity to flash her eyes gold at any offender? This timid woman who hid in her shell was not the person Emma remembered.  
  
"Will you let me read you?" she asked gently. "I can help you, Shal, I can help you get past what Max did to you and become the fiery feral we all remember and love."  
  
"I don't want to be feral again." Shalimar said, the panic fleeting across her eyes again. "I don't ever want to turn feral again." And she leaped up and ran away from Emma.  
  
The telempathic stared after her in shock. What had Max done to Shalimar to make her fear her feral side and everyone else? What had happened to her?!  
  
An hour later, the guys returned and Adam took Emma into the lab. "Well?" he asked gentle, seeing Emma's distress.  
  
"Something's very wrong, Adam," Emma said, almost in tears. "She simply won't open up and trust us with telling us what happened to her."  
  
"I suppose that's understandable; she's only been back a week." Adam replied, a trace of unease in his eyes mingling with concern.  
  
Emma sighed. "That's not all, Adam."  
  
"Oh?" Adam looked very worried.  
  
"She's terrified of being feral and absolutely refuses to flash her eyes or spar or let any part of her feral side take over."  
  
"She won't at all?"  
  
"Nothing." Emma shook her head. "Something's wrong, and I won't read her without her permission. Even if I did, she's probably built a tough brick wall to keep me out. She simply won't tell me."  
  
Adam sighed. "Maybe Jesse or Brennan will be able to help her. I'll ask Jess to convince her to take her shopping in a couple of days."  
  
"I hope it works, Adam." Emma said as she headed out of the lab. "'Coz Shal needs someone to get rid of her demons and let her be herself again."  
  
The father of all Mutants watched her go and buried his head in his hands. Emma's attempt had been something of a failure, but at least they now knew there was a concrete problem that needed dealing with.  
  
Unfortunately, Adam, for all his brains, couldn't for the life of him figure out a solution to this one.  
  
** TBC.  
  
**  
  
A/N: Sooooo sorry for how long I've taken to update!!! Things have been really crazy and besides all that, I've had other ideas that were just screaming to be written down. Anyway, I hope I'm forgiven, and I promise the next chapters will be up very soon! Please review . . . 


	11. It's Me Jesse

Dark Tomorrow  
  
Chapter Eleven: It's Me - Jesse  
  
**  
  
The mall was hectic and animated as usual, every shopper running around crazily, shopping bags flashing everywhere - a scene of absolute chaos.  
  
Shalimar had once loved it, Jesse knew, and he was betting on her having a good time today. To his delight, she did seem to be having a good time, laughing and joking with him like they used to.  
  
Two hours and eight shopping bags later, they sat down in a small coffee shop to have something to drink.  
  
"This is fun," Jesse commented. "I haven't had much fun shopping in a long time. But then, you were always the best person to shop with."  
  
She grinned. Somehow, three of the shopping bags belonged to Jesse. He didn't know how she managed to get him to try on and buy those clothes and shoes. "Well, you're a good personal Ken to dress up," she giggled. "Oh, I'll have a lemon iced tea." She told the waiter.  
  
Jesse couldn't help but grin broadly at that. Lemon iced tea had always been Shalimar's favorite. "Chocolate milkshake for me." He added.  
  
"Hmm . . . chocolate bunny," she smirked. "Some things never change, Jess."  
  
He was amazed. Chocolate bunny had been the nickname Shal had teasingly used for him since they'd become friends on the team and she had caught him one night gulping down chocolate rabbits from the stock kept in the Sanctuary fridge.  
  
"I'm glad they don't." he replied seriously.  
  
She smiled and excused herself to the bathroom. A couple of minutes later, she began to cross the courtyard again. Jesse watched as some skater guy went over to her and said something. It was obviously a lame pick-up line, because Jesse saw Shalimar's eyebrow shoot up. He waited to see if she would flash her eyes at him like she always used to.  
  
"Jesse!" the cry cut into his thoughts and he leaped up, startled. Was she calling him for help?!  
  
He hurried over. "Scoot," he told the skater kid, who looked more than happy to because Shalimar was cowering against Jesse all of a sudden. He turned to Shalimar and led her back to the table. "Shal, are you okay?"  
  
She frowned. "I'm fine, why?"  
  
"Well, you never used to call me for help before. You used to scare those guys away just by flashing your eyes. It was a handy trick."  
  
Her eyes darkened till they were almost frightened. "No, Jesse, I won't ever flash my eyes or go feral again. Never." She said, so forcefully that Jesse flinched. "I will never be a feral again."  
  
Jesse stared at her. "Why not, Shal? Is it because Max was a feral too? Are you afraid to be feral because it will remind you of him? That's ridiculous, because if that was a reason, you'd be afraid of me too, because I have molecular abilities like Max did."  
  
"That's not it." She said softly, her tone so sad and dejected that he felt a pang of compassion and protectiveness towards her.  
  
He reached out and squeezed her hand. "Then tell me why, Shal," he said gently, coaxing her into opening up. "Tell me what Max did to you that made you so scared of being feral. Tell me."  
  
"I - I can't." she wailed. "I just can't."  
  
"Shal," he smiled slightly. "It's me - Jesse. Remember? You can tell me anything. You used to tell me everything."  
  
She hesitated, and he knew that she trusted him, but she was afraid of telling him. He gave her a reassuring, encouraging grin. "Hell, come on, Shal, I told you all about my teddy bear that I still sleep with, didn't I?" he smiled as she giggled. "You remember that. So remember me too, and tell me, Shal. Tell me why you won't be a feral again."  
  
For a long moment, there was silence. Then Shalimar said slowly: "I'm doing it to protect you. To protect you and Brennan and Adam."  
  
"What?" Jesse demanded, shocked. "What - what do you mean? Do you think you'll hurt us if you turn feral? That's silly, Shal, you've never hurt us before."  
  
"Not that way." She muttered softly.  
  
Jesse stared at her. What could she possibly be talking about? What demon was haunting her so badly that she couldn't even become her whole self again?  
  
His eyes hardened. What the hell had Max Reyes done to her?  
  
"Oh, Shal," he said softly. "You don't have to be afraid anymore. He's dead. He doesn't need to haunt your life."  
  
She shook her head. "It's not just him," tears swam in her eyes. "It's me too. I don't ever want to be feral again."  
  
"Tell me what he did to you." Jesse growled, anger surging through him.  
  
"Some secrets are better off buried." She whispered, almost distantly.  
  
His heart began to thud painfully. So there was something wrong - Max HAD done something to her, and that was the root of the fear of being feral. If only she would tell him what it was . . .  
  
"And some secrets fester into wounds that ultimately kill," he told her quietly. "This could be one of them. I want my Shal, my best friend, my sister, back. I'll do anything it takes to surface your secret and destroy your demons. Mutant X will save you and make you one of us again; you can count on that. You can't hide the truth from me forever, Shal."  
  
She looked at him, her soft brown eyes meeting his flashing blue-gray ones. And in that instant, he saw something other than fear, denial, anger or pain.  
  
For just one fleeting second as he spoke, so briefly that he was sure he was imagining things, Jesse saw hope ignite in her eyes.  
  
** TBC.  
  
**  
  
A/N: Chapter Twelve will be up next, and I hope you guys are enjoying this story again. Please review and let me know, and once again, I'm sorry about how long it took to update. 


	12. Love You Forever

Dark Tomorrow  
  
Chapter Twelve: Love You Forever  
  
**  
  
Brennan awoke with a start. He didn't know why he was awake; only that it had something to do with Shalimar.  
  
He turned over on his back and nearly had a heart attack.  
  
She was kneeling by his bed, her eyes meeting his as he turned slowly to face her. He swallowed hard; in a baby doll nightie, her hair in a golden swirl around her face and shoulders, cherry lips glistening in the moonlight, smooth tanned skin exposed in an R-rated amount - he could feel his heart rate escalating and the body temperature skyrocketing.  
  
"Shal?" he questioned hoarsely. "You okay?"  
  
She nodded and climbed onto the bed to curl up next to him in a sitting position. He was suddenly very aware of his bare chest, but kept his eyes rooted to hers.  
  
"I was feeling scared." She admitted.  
  
"You don't have to be," he said, sitting up and touching her shoulder. "Nothing will hurt you now, and I'll always be here."  
  
She shook her head. "I was scared of hurting you," she explained. Seeing his perplexed expression, she added: "I want to stay with you and be with you, but I'm scared of becoming feral and hurting you."  
  
Brennan's jaw clenched. "Shal," he said, his voice gentle but his eyes blazing, "You could never hurt me. You don't have to be afraid of your feral side. It's a part of you, and I love every part of you."  
  
"You love me?" she sounded like a lost little girl.  
  
He leaned forward and slid his arms around her waist, pulling her close. "I love you more than you'll ever know, and I'll love you forever." He murmured huskily into the warm, silken skin of her neck. He kissed her neck gently and felt a shiver run down her spine.  
  
Her back was to him, so he could kiss down her neck and along her shoulders, feeling the heat rise in her body. She whimpered: "Don't, Brennan. I might go feral."  
  
"And what's wrong with that?" he asked, chuckling.  
  
She sighed. "Do you really want to know?"  
  
He stopped kissing her and drew her tightly into his arms, letting her nestle against his chest. "Yes, I want to know."  
  
The slight trembling of her body told him she was crying, but as he tried to soothe her, she spoke rather tremulously: "At night, Max - Max would figure out ways to make me go feral, even though I tried not to. He'd argue with me, or - hit me - " Brennan's jaw hardened, " - or something like that. And once I was feral - he'd flash his eyes too - and he'd use the feral attraction against me by - by forcing himself on me!" she broke down, sobbing heavily into Brennan's chest.  
  
He tightened his arms around her and kissed her hair. "Shhh, it's okay," he mumbled. "He's dead, he can never hurt you again."  
  
- And thank God for him that he's dead, - Brennan thought angrily. - Or I might have made him suffer worse than he did. -  
  
"Is that why you're scared to be feral again?" Brennan asked. "Because you think you might force yourself on us and hurt us?"  
  
She nodded shakily. "I don't want to hurt you."  
  
"You won't." he promised, and he bent his mouth to hers, kissing her deeply and tenderly so that she would know exactly how much he loved her and how much he would always love her.  
  
Soon, it was as if the walls were breaking down and melting away; she kissed him back and her arms wound around his neck. Her mouth burst from his only to trail hotly down his neck and to his chest. Every muscle in his body went tight as he struggled for control.  
  
They made love, slowly and sweetly, with equal passion and thrill on both sides. And then, when they were finally done, Shalimar snuggled beside Brennan on the bed and whispered: "I'll love you forever too, Bren."  
  
That was all he needed for his heart to soar and his face to break into a grin of pure joy. "You'll be one of us again soon, Shal," he promised. "Jesse and Adam and Emma will be as thrilled as I am."  
  
"I hope so," she said, rolling over so that she was lying on top of him and looking into his eyes. "I'm glad to be home again." She smiled, the first real smile lighting up her face and making her look like a dream come true.  
  
And she was, Brennan decided. She was everything he had ever dreamed of, and ever wanted.  
  
"What's so funny?" she asked indignantly, when he began to grin and then chuckle.  
  
Brennan grinned at her. "I was just thinking about how we're going to spar from now on. You'll be so desperate to jump me that we probably won't ever get any training done. Little vixen!"  
  
She laughed and stared down at him. He watched in joyful amazement as her eyes flashed gold.  
  
"Watch it, smart ass." She dug her fingernails into his side, making him jerk from the ticklish sensation and yelp for mercy.  
  
As far as he was concerned, she could spend the rest of her life with him making him beg for mercy. All that mattered now was that their resident feral had resurfaced.  
  
Shalimar Fox was back, and this time, she was going to stay.  
  
** FINIS  
  
**  
  
A/N: Any warm, fuzzy feelings of happiness? Please review and tell me what you think of this ending and this story. Enjoy, and I'll catch ya guys soon!  
  
Luv always, Me 


End file.
